Other Nations Take Potshots As U.s. Tries To Sort Out Mess

November 12, 2000|By Alfredo S. Lanier, Tribune Staff Writer. Tribune foreign correspondents Hugh Dellios in the Middle East, Ray Moseley in London, Patrice Jones in Rio de Janeiro, Michael Lev in Beijing and Colin McMahon in Moscow and staff writer James Janega in Chicago contributed to this report, along with Tribune news services.

Initial bafflement, followed by some bemusement, has turned into growing concern among foreign leaders, financiers and editorialists over the possibility of a prolonged stalemate in the selection of the next American president.

"There are two inherent dangers here," said Charles Lipson, director of the Program on International Politics, Economics and Society at the University of Chicago. "If this were to drag out, leaders not familiar with the American political process might perceive this chaos as a moment of weakness, while allies and foes might be confused about the continuity of U.S. foreign policy."

The first few days of electoral uncertainty gave several countries that are usually the target of American lectures on democratic rule an irresistible opportunity to take some potshots.

Alexander Veshnyakov, head of the Russian Central Election Commission--and who was in Chicago on Election Day to observe the election process--said, "Our presidential elections are conducted in more of a democratic fashion and are more easily understood by voters."

Unofficially, the Russian Web site www.anekdot.ru joked that Veshnyakov had flown to the U.S. to help straighten the electoral mess. "Latest reports show [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in the lead, over Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore," the Web site said.

In Italy, the perennial butt of jokes for its chaotic political system and its 58 governments in the postwar period, the daily newspaper La Repubblica ran this headline about the U.S. vote: "A Day as a Banana Republic."

"The first election of the new millennium has brought America into the realm of the surreal," the newspaper said.

In Africa, some felt a perverse sense of vindication. "If this had happened in Nigeria or anywhere else in Africa, the whole world would be pointing fingers at us," said Fortune Akabuka, a cabdriver in Lagos, Nigeria.

One Mexico City newspaper speculated that Mexican-style fraud, orchestrated perhaps by Gov. Jeb Bush, could be behind Florida's fuzzy electoral math. In Havana, Cuba's state-controlled media blasted Miami's Cuban-American community for any role it might have played in the fracas--and offered to send "impartial observers" to help audit the recount.

On a more embarrassing note, a number of major world leaders dashed off congratulatory messages to George W. Bush--and had to follow them with a "never mind" as confusion mounted over the results.

The American political impasse, combined with some mixed revenue and sales projections, already has depressed financial markets around the world.

"It's a combination of two things: the uncertainty as far as the election is concerned and ... worries about earnings, particularly in the technology sector," said Stanley Nabi, a managing director at Credit Suisse Asset Management.

Some analysts cautioned that a prolonged legal battle over the U.S. election results could lead to instability in some areas of the world. "Leaders like Saddam Hussein, who are not completely familiar with the American political process might think that there is enough confusion in the U.S. to make it safe for them to precipitate a crisis," Lipson said. "That, of course, would be a tragic mistake on their part."

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who is heading the Republican team in the recount battle in Florida, suggested America's standing in the world might begin to suffer if the election is prolonged. But his Democratic rival from the Gore camp, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, dismissed that claim, saying there is no threat to the U.S. on the horizon and adding that America always has "this period of interregnum" when administrations change.

Nonetheless, Lipson said, protracted uncertainty over the next president, his policies and his transition team could ultimately damage American interests abroad, even among our more sophisticated allies.

"If this matter drags out, it may affect the continuity of U.S. policy," he said. "Who will be the next secretary of state? Richard Holbrooke? Colin Powell? Condoleezza Rice? Our friends and foes want to know."

In Tokyo, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri called for a quick, accurate and conclusive recount to avoid mounting "anxiety" around the world, and avoid putting a politically weakened man into the White House.

"The turmoil over the vote count should not be allowed to cloud the president's authority," the paper editorialized. "It is hoped that the disruption is not a sign of global turmoil in the years ahead."